News: Live4Guitar talk valve/tube amps

The sound of the tube amp was always synonymous with a rock guitar tone. It is said that the sound of the tube amp is "warmer" compared to solid state amps like transistor or mosfet. The saturation of the tube increases gradually with the increase of the volume, this is something that doesn't happen with solid state amps, which by the way weren't even designed to produce distortion. In solid state amps the distortion is simulated with electronic circuits.

This tone, so dear to guitar players, is produced by the tubes, an electrical component invented at the beginning of last century. Between the '40s and '70s, the tube was included in nearly all electronic devices and is now totally obsolete except for in musical instruments and high end audio equipment.

We will not go into technical details of construction of the tube, but will rather try to give a basic overview that can be useful for guitarists and musicians in general.

If your amp is an all tube amp, and not a hybrid (like Valvestate), you can see that it has two sets of tubes. The first are is made up of small tubes, also known as the "Preamp", while the big ones are the "Power" tubes. Full story: http://live4guitar.com/article/valve-tube-amps